The Impact of Being a Meat Eater

I had to post something about this New York Times article about meat consumption that I read today. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do try to be conscientious about my meat consumption. Knowing where conventional meat comes from, and how it is raised, I avoid it as much as I possibly can. I have been nearly vegetarian before, and it felt pretty good. I definitely noticed a difference in my energy levels and moods once I got off the conventional meat.

I have considered giving it up all together, but not for the reasons that many people go vegetarian or vegan. My reasons have been in line with the arguments this article brings up – all of the environmental impacts of raising meat that make it an unsustainable habit.

Everyone wonders, where can I get protein if not from animal sources? There are plenty of foods that have protein in them – after all, if a cow is living a natural life, is it eating other cows? No, it eats grass.

You, too, can get protein from vegetables like leafy greens. And beans, grains, nuts, seeds, algae, and even fruit. All of these foods have some protein in them. In fact, many people in the world have lived for centuries solely on vegetarian sources of protein.

If you are a hardcore meat eater, I would suggest you try an experiment in vegetarianism to see if it works for you – try it out for two weeks, and see how you feel. Maybe you’ll like it. Maybe it won’t work so well for you. Maybe you’ll decide that while you’ll still eat some meat, you won’t consume as much as you used to. Either way, if everyone stopped for a couple of weeks, the environment would thank you for your kindness.